Friday, February 2, 2001
A wounded Tiger is plenty tough
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The limp was barely noticeable
as Tiger Woods headed to the first tee Thursday. What followed
was a game that's all too familiar.
One day after he got tripped up by an autograph hound and injured
his knee, Woods found his stride at Spyglass Hill with birdies
on the last three holes for a 6-under 66 in the first round of
the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Woods was only two strokes behind early leader David Berganio
on a gorgeous afternoon on the Monterey Peninsula.
“I should be able to break 90 today,” Woods joked as
he walked off the putting green and headed to the range to hit
balls for the first time since he sprained a ligament in his left
knee Wednesday while trying to walk through a pack of fans.
Standing on the first tee, Woods reached back with his left leg
and tapped the ground twice, then stepped up and belted a 321-yard
drive. That was followed with a 3-wood that went 274 yards and
left him pin-high to set up a birdie.
He managed to break 90, all right.
In fact, Woods said he knew nothing would keep him from his starting
time. He had a brace on early Thursday, but decided to take it
off before he played.
“It felt sore, yes,” Woods said. “But when it's
time to play, it's time to play. A friend of mine told me there's
a difference between pain and injury.”
Berganio tied the Spyglass tournament record with his bogey-free
round of 64 under conditions rarely seen on the peninsula —
sunny skies, mild temperatures and only a breath of wind.
“If you're going to catch Spyglass when it's asleep, today
is the day,” Berganio said.
Not many people saw his 64, which matched Dan Forsman's score
at Spyglass in the 1993 tournament.
The galleries lined both sides of the fairway to see how Woods
might respond from the bizarre accident. He was slightly tentative
while walking the first two holes, but his knee got stronger as
the day went on, and so did his game.
“It's definitely sore,” he said. “It was more sore
at the beginning when I first started playing. The middle part
was great and toward the end it started getting sore again.”
Woods was solid from start to finish.
The only time any pain was evident was the awkward finish after
his 3-wood on the first hole from a downhill lie, and when he
tried to crush a drive on the 529-yard seventh hole — he
hit that one 333 yards to set up another easy birdie.
“The first few drives were kind of difficult,” Woods
said. “It's a little different that warming up on the range.
You have a range swing, then you have a game-time swing.”
Watching among the gallery was swing coach Butch Harmon, who noticed
a few adjustments but was hardly concerned.
“He can't get over to his left side as quickly, which I don't
think hurts him,” Harmon said. “We've been working on
getting his lower body more quiet. I haven't seen it present a
problem. He's good at withstanding pain.”
Woods birdied the first two holes on the back nine, the second
one important because it followed a 30-minute wait. He missed
only three fairways and just one green, saving par with a delicate,
downhill chip on the par-3 12th that stopped inches from the cup.
And if his knee was getting tender toward the end of a round that
took 5 hours, 40 minutes, then it didn't show.
Woods blasted a 322-yard drive on No. 16 and hit a 9-iron into
5 feet for birdie. He holed a sharp-breaking 12-foot birdie on
No. 17, then hit his approach into 4 feet on the final hole to
close out his 66.
Imagine what he might have done with a strong knee.
“Probably a 73 or 74,” Woods joked. He opened with a
73 at Spyglass a year ago in the rain and muck, and wound up winning
the tournament by making up seven strokes on the final seven holes
at Pebble Beach.
Tommy Armour III and Mark Johnson each had a 65 at Poppy Hills,
the easiest course in the rotation because it has five par 5s.
Also at 66 with Woods was Masters champion Vijay Singh, who finished
two strokes back last year, Ed Fryatt and Brad Elder.
Woods said it might be a couple of weeks before his knee is fully
recovered. It wasn't strong enough for him to go to the range
after his round. After a 66 on Spyglass that got him off to a
great start, he didn't need to.
Divots: The best player in Tiger Woods' foursome might
have been Stanford buddy Jerry Chang, who had seven birdies while
playing from the regular tees. Chang had a 30 on the back at Spyglass
last year. ... David Duval, who became the first player to use
Nike irons on the PGA Tour, went back to an old set of Titleists
at Spyglass. His problem was putting. He bogeyed the last three
holes for a 75. ... Greg Rita, who has caddied for Curtis Strange,
John Daly and Scott Hoch, has a new boss for this week —
Ken Griffey Jr.
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